Ventilated tubular bracing and mount therefor

ABSTRACT

This invention improves a railway boxcar having vertical tubular load supporting posts provided with ventilating ports extending from the bores of said posts to the interior surface thereof with floor mounts fitting the lower ends of said tubes, respectively, and a constricting upstanding nozzle located centrally of each mount and with an underlying passageway extending across said nozzle to produce high velocity-low pressure in the bore of said nozzle to draw air downwardly from the bore of said post and to exhaust it exteriorily of said boxcar.

United States Patent 13,570,414

[72] Inventor William Don Miller 2,336,869 12/1943 Johnson 105/369(B)707 American Bank Bldg., Portland, Oreg. 3,342,142 9/1967 Miller105/369(B) 97205 Primary Examiner-Drayton E. Hoffman pp 787,949Attorney-W. E. Ramsey [22] Filed Dec.30, 1968 [45] Patented Mar.16,197l

[54] VENTILATED TUBULAR BRACING AND MOUNT THEBEFOR ABSTRACT: Thisinvention improves a railway boxcar having 6 Claims, 6 Drawing Figs. 1

vertical tubular load supporting posts provlded with ventilat- UsS.ports extending from the bores of Said posts to the interior f CL 361d45/00 surface thereof with floor mounts fitting the lower ends of said[50] Field of Search 105/369 tubes, respectively, a d a constrictingupstanding nozzle 357 located centrally of each mount and with anunderlying passageway extending across said nozzle to produce high [56]References cued velocity-low pressure in the bore of said nozzle to drawair U ITE STATES PATENTS downwardly from the bore of said post and toexhaust it exteri- 6l7,623 1/1899 Young l05/369(B) orily ofsaid boxcar.

Patented March-16,- 1971 3,570,414

2 Sheets-Sheet 1 H' I m 1 i E2 L I L%/ hh. llh- I a. 4 \5 E mi 5 19 iiINVENTOR I William DanMiller Patented March 16, 1971 3,570,414

1 2 Sheets---Sheecv 2 Fi William Don Mil INVEN BY v VENTILATED TUBULARBRACINGAND MOUNT THEREFOR This invention relates to the general subjectof removal post braces and mounts for a railroad boxcar, to prevent thelateral shifting of cargo lodged within said car. In this general fieldof reference, this improvement relates generally to the subject matterinvolved in US. Pat. No. 3,342,142, entitled Bracing For RailroadBoxcars, which patent issued to me on Sept. 19, 1967.

As is disclosed in said U.S. Pat, a boxcar, and particularly specialcars for shipping plywood, as manufactured in the Pacific Northwest, hasto be ventilated to equalize the temperature within the boxcar to thatof the ambient exterior temperature, particularly during the summermonths.

Boxcars cannot be limited in their use to specialized loads and thusthey must also be adaptable for general cargo and general cargo may havesaid bracing posts removed to provide a continuous sweep through theinterior of the car, or said posts must be located in different patternsthan for a specialized cargo. To this end, it is essential that themounts for the lower ends of the braces be provided with a cover andalso be provided with means through which comminuted refuse or liquiddrainage may be discharged through the floor of the boxcar so that themounts will not become jammed with foreign material.

l have discovered that a post and mount therefor, may be supportedpendently in apertures in a car floor so that the upper face of the carfloor is relatively level and smooth so that wheeled transfer vehiclesmay move readily thereover. To this end l provide a maze type ofaspirating device that may be secured to the undersurface of a postmount so that induced currents of air developed in transit may bedirected through the maze dun'ng passage of boxcar provided with saidtype of posts and mounts, and which air currents generate aspiratinghigh velocity currents which withdraw air from the bores of tubularposts used for bracing cargo.

Because boxcars may be joined in a train so that either end is forward,it is essential that said induced currents be generated independently ofthe direction in which a car faces in transit.

Also,-because the mounts for posts depend below the upper surface of thefloor, it is essential that said induced currents tend to dislodge andremove accumulations in the wells in the mounts whether they are in use,or otherwise.

The details of my invention and the mode of operation thereof arehereinafter described with reference to the accompanying drawings, inwhich:

FIG. 1 is a plan view looking downwardly into a post mount with a postshown in section, to illustrate how the well of said post overliedrainage holes to prevent large pieces of foreign material to overliesaid holes, and to clog them;

FIG. 2 is an elevation with portions being shown in section to disclosedetails of construction and the operative relationship of the parts of apost mount and the lower end of a post mount supported therein;

FIG. 3 is a transverse section through a maze underlying the bottom ofamount being taken on the line 3-3 in FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a foreshortened view of an elongated tubular load supportingpost with the upper portion shown broken away to disclose the details ofthe construction of its upper end;

FIG. 5 is a view similar to FIG. 2, but on a larger scale, illustratingthe manner in which induced currents, collected and directed by theunderlying maze can produce an aspirating effect within the bore of atubular load supporting post, as well as to the drains in the mount forthe lower end of such post. The primary drafts induced by stream flow ofa train in motion are shown with arrows smoothly curved and induceddrafts are shown by arrows with wavy stems and shafts; and

FIG. 6 is a transverse section taken on the line 66 in FIG. 5illustrating the manner in which induced currents of air are directedacross or adjacent the mouth of the central passageway of an upstandingnozzle in the mount, and cominunicate with the bore of a related tubularload supporting post and under the drain openings to remove materialtherefrom.

A ventilating tubular bracing end mount therefrom embodying myinvention, comprises a plurality of elongated tubular load support posts1, each having a bore la therein, leading from its lower end 1b to theunder surface of a closing partition 10 adjacent the upper end of saidpost. Adjacent the lower end is an aperture partition ldwhich permitsair to flow downwardly through the bore of said post by the mechanismhereinafter described. Laterally at spaced modules, are ventilatingports 2, leading from the bore in of the post to the exterior surfacetherefrom. This permits air to flow from the cargo space in the boxcarabove the floor 3 of the boxcar tothe under surface of said floor, as isillustrated by arrows in FIG. 5.

The lower open end 1b of each post is provided with a flanged cup-shapedfloor mount 4. Each mount has a peripheral wall 5, having a lateralflange 5b formed at its upper end or mouth. The well preferably has adivergent bounding wall so that it is slightly larger at the top than atthe floor por: tion 6. An integral nozzle 7 stands upright from thefloor portion axially of the floor mount with its outer surface spacedlaterally from the inner surface of the floor mount. This defines anannular space 8 for accommodating the lower end of a lower end lb of apost with substantial room to spare. This is desirable so that anycondensation that might tend to collect in a floor mount will bepermitted to flow through the floor portions and thus be wasted.

Attention is directed to FIG. 5 to illustrate that the width of eachdrain opening is substantially wider than the thickness of a wall of thepost lodged therein.

The nozzle 7 is provided with a central passageway 10, communicatingwith the bore la of the post accommodated therein. Beneath the floorportion of the mount is a maze member 11, which is flat and relativelyshallow with respect to the height of the floor mount. The bottomportion 12 is substantially imperforate as is illustrated in FIG. 5,except at the four corners 12a of said member 11. Said corners arepreferably cut away as at 13, to permit the stream flow of air generatedby the travel of the boxcar to be blown into said cut away portions onthe upstream side (the right-hand side of the drawing) and be directedinwardly by related pairs of flanges 14, with their inner ends 15 spacedapart a lesser distance than the sides of the related cut away portion13. This produces high velocity low pressure air at the point ofgreatest velocity which is directed under the central passageway 10 todraw air from the bore of a post carried by said mount downwardly andexteriorally of the railway boxcar. The high velocity-low pres sure jetsat the upstream side and a similar jet at the downstream side, inducelow pressures under the drain holes and thus tend to cause moisture toflow downwardly toward the inner faces of the peripheral walls of thefloor mount and to be wasted as well as any other condensation orcomminuted solids that might tend to collect within the peripheral wallof the mount. The high velocity jets thus formed and directed, tend toremove the air from within the posts and to remove moisture and debrisfrom the car generally and to prevent it from collecting in said mounts.

The functions and results produced by the tubular bracing members andthe mounts therefor provide stability of cargo carried in a railwayboxcar and will not be described in detail. Reference is had to myissued US. Pat. No. 3,342,142, for a statement of operation andfunction, as well as the relationship of said bracing posts with respectto the cargo, statically and dynamically in transit.

The upper end of the nozzle lies at approximately the same plane as thatof the upper surface of the flange 5b so that an uncovered mount can beplugged satisfactorily to be traversed by wheel supported vehicles. If acover is placed thereover, it is slightly lower so that a plane covercan be set thereover without danger of tipping.

lclaim:

1. An elongated tubular load supporting post for a railway freight car:

each post being provided with a continuous bore therethrough opening toone end of said post and being closed adjacent the other end andprovided with pluralspaced ventilating ports extending laterally throughthe peripheral wall of said tubular post from said bore to the exteriorsurface thereof;

a flanged cup-shaped floor mount for each post, depending through thecar floor accommodating the open end of a post;

said mount comprising a peripheral wall, an open upper face, and abottom portion; and

each mount having a laterally spaced nozzle with a bore extendingupwardly through said bottom portion, to said open face and into saidbore of a relate post and an aspirating passageway underlying saidnozzle bore and communicating therewith inducing air discharge from saidnozzle bore.

2. Claim 1, modified in that drain openings extend through the floorportion of said mount and underlie the open end of the peripheral wallof a post accommodated by said mount.

3. An elongated tubular load supporting post for a railway freight car:

each post being provided with a continuous bore therethrough opening toone end of said post and being closed adjacent the other end andprovided with pluralspaced ventilating ports extending laterally throughthe peripheral wall of said tubular post from said bore to the exteriorsurface thereof;

a flanged cup-shaped floor mount for each post, depending through thecar floor accommodating the open end of a post;

said mount comprising a peripheral wall, an open upper face, and abottom portion:

each mount having a laterally spaced nozzle with a bore extendingupwardly through said bottom portion, to said open face, and into saidbore of a related post; and

a flat restricted air inlet maze memberjoined along one face thereof tothe under surface of the mount and having a distant face spacedtherefrom and being imperforate.

4. Claim 3, modified in that said maze member being shallow, ofrectangular shape and having its corner portions cut away to defineairflow passages therethrough.

5. Claim 3, modified in that related pairs of inwardly projectingbafiles within said member and extending across each of said corners todefine a restricted airflow passage from each of the corners toward themiddle portion thereof, thereby to direct the flow of air past theventilating port in the floor mount to induce an aspirating effectthrough the central passageway of the nozzle.

6. Claim 3, modified in that drain openings in the floor portion of saidmount and underlying the end of the peripheral wall of said post, andrelated pairs of inwardly projecting baffles within said member andextending across each of said corners to define a restricted airflowpassage from each of said corners toward the middle portion thereof,thereby to direct the flow of air through each of the cut away comerportions.

1. An elongated tubular load supporting post for a railway freight car: each post being provided with a continuous bore therethrough opening to one end of said post and being closed adjacent the other end and provided with plural-spaced ventilating ports extending laterally through the peripheral wall of said tubular post from said bore to the exterior surface thereof; a flanged cup-shaped floor mount for each post, depending through the car floor accommodating the open end of a post; said mount comprising a peripheral wall, an open upper face, and a bottom portion; and each mount having a laterally spaced nozzle with a bore extending upwardly through said bottom portion, to said open face and into said bore of a relate post and an aspirating passageway underlying said nozzle bore and communicating therewith inducing air discharge from said nozzle bore.
 2. Claim 1, modified in that drain openings extend through the floor portion of said mount and underlie the open end of the peripheral wall of a post accommodated by said mount.
 3. An elongated tubular load supporting post for a railway freight car: each post being provided with a continuous bore therethrough opening to one end of said post and being closed adjacent the other end and provided with plural-spaced ventilating ports extending laterally through the peripheral wall of said tubular post from said bore to the exterior surface thereof; a flanged cup-shaped floor mount for each post, depending through the car floor accommodating the open end of a post; said mount comprising a peripheral wall, an open upper face, and a bottom portion: each mount having a laterally spaced nozzle with a bore extending upwardly through said bottom portion, to said open face, and into said bore of a related post; and a flat restricted air inlet maze member joined along one face thereof to the under surface of the mount and having a distant face spaced therefrom and being imperforate.
 4. Claim 3, modified in that said maze member being shallow, of rectangular shape and having its corner portions cut away to define airflow passages therethrough.
 5. Claim 3, modified in that related pairs of inwardly projecting baffles within said member and extending across each of said corners to define a restricted airflow passage from each of the corners toward the middle portion thereof, thereby to direct the flow of air past the ventilating port in the floor mount to induce an aspirating effect through the central passageway of the nozzle.
 6. Claim 3, modified in that drain openings in the floor portion of said mount and underlying the end of the peripheral wall of said post, and related pairs of inwardly projecting baffles within said mEmber and extending across each of said corners to define a restricted airflow passage from each of said corners toward the middle portion thereof, thereby to direct the flow of air through each of the cut away corner portions. 